A Sustainable Business

In May 2012 the Reserve Bank Australia published the results of “Survival Rates for Small Businesses” which found that between 2007–2011;

60% of sole proprietor businesses failed

40% of 1-4 person businesses failed

35% of 5-19 person businesses failed

40% of small businesses were not profitable

To be a sustainable business we must first make a profit. When people are shopping around for a bargain we must first ask ourselves how are they selling it for $x?

My view is the consumer has the power to drive how we want to live. The company is only giving us what the consumer wants.

We have to constantly question how someone can sell a product especially food so cheap. Our food is not its true value. On average in Australia we spend 6-10% of our wage on food. This has continued to drop over the years mainly due to advances in chemical and GMO resulting in higher productivity equalling lower costs.

Supermarkets are continuing to grow and they are doing this by offering cheap food. If food is our fuel why are we not more concerned by the nutrient value rather than the price? An example is recent milk wars, resulting in the discovery of the companies adding permeate which is a by-product of dairy foods to lower the cost. We still don’t know the true negatives but we do know they didn’t add this 30 years ago. It was only a process to lower the cost to be more competitive.

Then the question comes up; I cannot afford organic food.

Answer is; we typically eat too much as our bodies are nutrient starved. We must first overcome the hunger habit which has been created by cost cutting food.

If we all ate organic and were concerned about the fuel we put in our bodies, farming would change, fast food would go out of business and fizzy drinks wouldn’t exist. It does because we buy it.

It’s not up to the companies to change their habits as they are only supply and demand based.

If we are to change quickly as a community, as a nation, then it is up to every individual who makes a purchase every day in food, clothing, vehicles, toys, power and even holidays.